A MOTHER has told of the devastating moment her son was knocked down by joyriders and left for dead.

Sarah Budd was at home in Whitehawk, Brighton, when she heard her daughter scream.

She ran outside to find her nine-year-old son Logan Dore lying injured on the floor covered in blood after two moped riders had knocked him off his scooter and fled.

Logan was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured skull but a CT scan revealed he was suffering from swelling of the brain.

Sarah, 41, said: “I will never forget the screams from my daughter who witnessed it from her bedroom window or my nephew as he ran to tell me.

“Seeing my baby’s legs from under the car and his shoes and sweets scattered in the road will haunt me always.”

CCTV footage captured the shocking moment Logan crossed Whitehawk Road in Brighton and was thrown across the road and under a parked car.

It appears the driver does not even slow down after the accident. Police believe the two riders were on a stolen moped.

Sarah has not left Logan’s bedside since and has pleaded for the moped riders or anyone who knows them to come forward. She said: “I haven’t left my little boy’s side since the accident.

“Logan hasn’t slept since the accident, I have to lay holding him all night and when he does drift off he wakes from pain or jumps and starts crying.

“It breaks my heart that there are parents out there that know their teenage is responsible for this and choose to keep quiet, they also know their kids are out stealing bikes and driving like idiots around the estate, this has to stop and me and my family won’t give up until they are caught.”

Read more: Boy aged 9 smashed off scooter by moped in hit-and-run

Logan, a pupil at City Academy, Whitehawk, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with serious head injuries after the crash, which happened at about 12.15pm on Sunday.

The rider of the moped, who had a passenger and was traveling south, failed to stop. The moped was silver and black or dark red and is suspected to have some damage as a result of the impact. A police spokesman said officers were carrying out undercover operations in Brighton and Hove targeting known motorcycle thieves and in recent weeks have made arrests. They said it was the “result of listening to concerns in the community”.

Logan Dore's aunt was one of the first to reach the stricken youngster as he lay on the floor.

Sammy Murray, 31, who lives nearby, ran to the scene to find her nephew in the road with blood pouring from his head.

She began to talk to him to stop him from closing his eyes.

Sammy said: "He wanted me to tell him that what was happening was not real.

"I told him that this was real but he would be OK and get through it.

"He had a gash on his head and there was loads of blood but a doctor from a nearby surgery came down to help him.

"Those riders could have taken a poor little boy's life."

Logan had been playing on his scooter with his 13-year-old cousin Keagan moments before the accident.

Sammy said the two boys were very close and more like brothers.

She said Keagan could not get the horrific "thud" sound caused by the collision out os his head and keeps ringing up from school to check on Logan's health.

Logan's grandmother Beverley Murray, who also lives in Whitehawk, said she could not comprehend how anyone could hide the identity of the joyriders. 

Beverley, 63, said: "If you know who they are, give them up.

"You must have a conscience, just think of that little boy who did nothing wrong but almost died." 

Anyone with any information about the collision is asked to report it online or call 101, quoting serial 502 of 16/09. Alternatively, visit the Crimestoppers website or call anonymously on 0800 555 111.